State House News -- Markey downplays poll as campaign highlights it in fundraising pitch

Visiting areas outside his congressional district in the seven-week heat that is the U.S. Senate special election, Congressman Ed Markey said his contest with Republican businessman Gabriel Gomez is being run no different than prior campaigns.

By Andy Metzger, State House News Service

Wicked Local

By Andy Metzger, State House News Service

Posted May. 6, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 6, 2013 at 6:15 AM

By Andy Metzger, State House News Service

Posted May. 6, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 6, 2013 at 6:15 AM

Boston

» Social News

Visiting areas outside his congressional district in the seven-week heat that is the U.S. Senate special election, Congressman Ed Markey said his contest with Republican businessman Gabriel Gomez is being run no different than prior campaigns.

“This is how I campaign. When I’m in a race, this is how I campaign,” Markey said Saturday after greeting potential voters on a ferry pier in New Bedford.

The Malden Democrat, who has served in Congress since 1976, led 44-40, according to a recent post-primary poll, against a contender who was little-known before the special election kicked off this winter.

The May 3 Public Policy Polling survey was clearly on the mind of Markey campaign manager Sarah Benzing in a Saturday fundraising pitch.

“Let me put this in context: In the 2010 special election, Scott Brown was down by 30 points and went on to win. Our opponent is within 4,” Benzing wrote.

Standing on the state pier, however, Markey downplayed the poll.

“In the primary there were multiple polls that were put out between myself and Steve Lynch. And I won by 16 points on Tuesday night, and it turned out that none of the polls that came out in the primary were actually accurate, so from my perspective, the only important poll occurs on election night, and we’re just working 24 hours a day – well, actually I’m working 14 hours a day, and I’m doing it seven days a week the way I did it four and a half months to win the primary,” Markey told the News Service.

Markey’s swing this weekend through Brockton, Hyannis and New Bedford, working-class cities south of Boston, was aimed at shoring up votes from those who supported Congressman Stephen Lynch, a South Boston Democrat and former ironworker, according to the Markey campaign.

A former Navy SEAL and Cohasset businessman, Gomez, too, has honed in on Lynch territory, making his first post-primary campaign stop in South Boston on Wednesday morning.

Gomez, who released a TV ad Monday drawing heavily from his acceptance speech last Tuesday, planned on Monday to tour the Puerto Rican Veterans Association Monument in Boston, followed by lunch with association officials at Vejigantes in Boston and a late afternoon meet and greet with the Newton/Needham Chamber of Commerce at the Newton Marriott.

Representing a solidly Democratic district as the dean of the Congressional delegation, Markey has had a fairly easy ride in recent elections, going unchallenged in 2006, and then racking up wins with 70 percent, 63 percent, and 70 percent again in subsequent years.

“My goal is to just campaign, seven days a week, 14 hours a day, and then we’ll see what happens on election night,” Markey said, asserting that his tack this spring is no different than in prior elections.

On May 1, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cut the catch limits for cod by 78 and 61 percent off last year’s limits, drawing protests from the fishing industry and state officials.

“I’m calling on NOAA to demonstrate much greater flexibility in their proposal. I think there has to be a balance,” Markey said Saturday, days after the new limits were put into effect.

The ranking member on the Natural Resources Committee, Markey has previously called on emergency relief for the fishing industry, saying, “New England fishermen are being hit by a perfect storm of fewer fish, warmer waters, and competition from mislabeled foreign seafood.”

On Saturday, Markey said his call for flexibility was not out of step with his position that global warming raising water temperatures played a “key role” in reducing the amount of fish – which he said last August had disrupted spawning cycles and food webs.

“It’s the same. There has been without question real changes that are taking place out there. A lot of it has to do with the warming of the waters of the Northern Atlantic. We have to ensure though that we’re fair to the fishermen. So I just think a balance has to be struck,” Markey said.